


before i could age

by raydiosighlent



Series: before i could age (the time before schlatt reached floor 6) [1]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Lunch Club, SMPLive, The Lunch Club Podcast, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Gen, Inspired by The Hunger Games, Its a hunger games au, also a fanwork of a fanwork of an au of a story, but an au of that, fanfic of a fanfic, its really cool though, kinda goes wooOOOOOohooo inception, read the original work though cause its so good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 18:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23739640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raydiosighlent/pseuds/raydiosighlent
Summary: "looking down at the faces in the crowd from atop the stage, he saw nothing but relief- people relieved they weren’t picked. honestly, he couldn’t blame them. as much as he wished that someone would raise their hand to go in his place, he knew that no stranger would do that for him. maybe now he felt regret for his schlattcoin scam."-in which schlatt gets reaped for the 66th annual hunger games
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: before i could age (the time before schlatt reached floor 6) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1715155
Comments: 14
Kudos: 91
Collections: victors' tower (stories from floor 6)





	before i could age

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WreakingHavok](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WreakingHavok/gifts).

> so there’s this really cool au/story called as i get older by wreakinghavok and i really enjoy it and i kinda thought it was really cool to think about what happened when he was reaped cause the description of it is very brief. im writing this pretty quickly all at once and i haven’t really written any narratives for anything besides schoolwork since my elementary school wattpad days so please help me out with big errors. also the name is because the original is called as i get older and as he gets older he changes more so like before he started changing he wasn’t aging and it’s a really dumb metaphor i just made.

* * *

schlatt, like the rest of the miserable souls born into his poor district, always tried to forget about the reaping. waking up, he pretended to go through the motions of getting ready for another long day of a monotonous existence. pushing the countdown to three p.m. to the back of his mind, he let more positive thoughts fill his mind. 

his little friend ty wouldn’t even have more than a sliver of a chance of being sent to death (he knew this because he personally made sure he never put his name in more than once). arlus, who just turned nineteen a month ago, was finally too old to be reaped. connor was- well connor, <strike> who put his name into that stupid glass ball sixteen times </strike>, didn’t have much to keep him safe (don’t think about that, there is not a single world where he would be picked). the three other people in his family would be able to keep eating as well, and he didn’t even need to put in tessera thanks to his older brother. still, looking at the positives did nothing to quell his fears.

-

it was a tradition for him and his ragtag group of friends to spend the day together before the reaping (just in case, you know). strolling up to their secret makeshift hideout in the forest he sat down at their sad excuse for a wooden table, if he ever said that though connor’s heart would be broken, and waited for the rest of them to arrive. and per tradition, one by one they did.

like the other residents of district 12, all of them pretended like it was just a normal day. it wasn’t like two people would be sent to certain death in a mere few hours, thinking about it would just make it worse. so they sat at their wooden table and fell into their usual banter, trying to ignore the heavy tension in the air.

“schlaaaaaaatt,” ty whined, poking and prodding the brunette’s head. they were sitting right next to each other, connor and arlus at the opposite side of the table.

“whatdya want, kid,” schlatt sighed, grabbing the thirteen year old’s wrist to take his soot-stained hand out of his hair.

“you aren’t paying attention to what we’re talking about, man! you’re always quiet, but you’re never this quiet!” he complained, crossing his arms and letting out a childish huff fitting for his age.

“i’m sorry, i’m sorry. i was just thinking-”

“well stop thinking and join this conversation!” he started, then looked away and muttered something else at the end. 

“uh hey kid, what was that. we couldn’t hear you from over here,” connor pointed out, with arlus nodding his agreement shortly thereafter.

“...well, uh- this may be the last time we can like- talk together, y’know-” he mumbled, just barely loud enough for the rest of them to hear. he put his head down almost immediately after saying the first word, almost guilty for breaking their forced scene of peace.  
  
“ty, i’m gonna put this for ya plan and simple. if i ever hear you say something like that again, i will give you the biggest noogie you’ve ever had the displeasure of experiencing,” arlus cut him off, suddenly looking much more serious in his big pretentious sunglasses. the small kid put his head down further in shame, his face scrunched up in guilt.

schlatt sighed and reached over to ruffle the child’s hair, “ty, what he was trying to say is that you can’t think negatively like that.” he paused for a second, thinking about what more he could add. “if you do, you’ll only make the rest of us feel sad from your bad vibes,” he said, chuckling a bit at the end to lighten the mood. connor muttered his agreement, and suddenly the previous conversation about whatever knick-knack the mask wearing kid found at the market today was back to life. but still, that same dreadful thought loomed over all of their heads.

-

around half past one, the group had to split up. it was mandatory, of course, to dress as best as they possibly could in their state of poverty for the reaping. since the whole thing was broadcasted, looking even slightly out of place could cause a public beating from the peacekeepers for “further tarnishing the reputation of district 12.” 

baths were very much uncommon in district 12, a luxury for only the most important of events. schlatt hated that the reapings were considered important enough to warrant one. if they weren’t considered important, he wouldn’t need to get all dressed up to watch a kid get sentenced to death. 

the walk to the plaza was spent following his older brother, his hand locked in his. he was fifteen (almost sixteen) now, but he still felt like a little kid every time this happened, needing his older brother’s grasp for support. reluctantly though, he needed to part ways with him after a brief walk. needing his hand to confirm that he hadn’t been brave enough to try escaping the capital’s wrath. watching his brother slowly joining the crowd of eighteen year olds (who were desperate to be free from this wretched tradition) he swiftly went to join the fifteen year olds (all of whom were wracked with anxiety of enduring three more years of this).

he was taller than a good majority of the rest of the kids his age (short by any standards outside of district 12, but tall here) and was easily able to look over the crowd and spot ty and connor. connor, shaking with adrenaline as he knew that there were sixteen extra slips with his name. ty, hugging his arms around his chest and looking down in pure terror that could only be known to a child at his first reaping. arlus was in the adults section, giving the three of them a watchful look, only able to pray to whatever god was out there that his friends would be safe.

the escort on stage towered over the district residents from his perch high atop the stage. he was an unfamiliar face, and introduced himself as mithzan. looking at him, schlatt shuttered at the inhumane fluorescent red of his hair and beard. he rambled quickly, rattling on and on about the traditions and speaking as if this was an honor to be able to participate in. his accent made it very clear that he never had to experience any horror that could even compare to what he was doing. 

-

then, the moment started. 

every single member of the district knew it was starting as soon as the video ended, all collectively holding in a breath; saying one last prayer to keep them and their family safe. the man’s unnaturally pale hands were hovering over both bowls, one of them reaching in to condemn a boy to death. time seemed to slow down as he slowly pulled his hand back up, a tiny slip of paper in hand. he was taking his sweet time announcing the tribute, savoring sweetly the act of opening the folded paper. every one of those stupid escorts always seemed to revel in torturing the poor souls of the district. 

“ah, the young man to be the tribute for district 12 in the 66th annual hunger games is,” he paused for a moment to sprinkle more tension for his capital viewers. with a grin that resembled a predator more than a human, he opened his mouth to condemn another child. 

“jonathan sch-schlaught? is that how you say it?"

no.

fuck no no no no. this couldn’t be right. 

he was only fifteen, he had so much to do; even in the slums of district 12, he had things to live for. his only legacy was being that quiet kid who liked computers and the guy who scammed his entire grade with a fake product to feed his family for another week; now, he would only be remembered as another victim of a horrid tradition. 

suddenly, with an offensively bad butchering of his name, he would be sentenced to death. 

he didn’t even have a chance at survival; he was tiny, malnourished, and frail compared to all the other districts. the nightmares of his childhood, filled with dreadful visions of being chosen and slaughtered were no longer figments of his imagination. they were very real, and he could only ponder how his death would happen as he slowly shuffled his feet to the stage. 

looking down at the faces in the crowd from atop the stage, he saw nothing but relief- people relieved they weren’t picked. honestly, he couldn’t blame them. as much as he wished that someone would raise their hand to go in his place, he knew that no stranger would do that for him. maybe now he felt regret for his schlatt-coin scam.

gazing further, he saw his friends with looks filled with grief. he saw connor’s arm twitch and gazed into his eyes with more focus than he ever has in his entire life. he _ will not _ let his best friend go in his place to death. getting the message, the scruffy haired blonde put his head down in agony.

knowing he wouldn’t be able to bear seeing the look on small ty’s face, he instead looked towards arlus and his family. the looks on their faces, the sheer sadness of them all, made something alight for the first time in his heart. there was fire, a rage that he never experienced; an emotion that was bright scarlet and in agony for the pain he would put his family through. at that moment, he swore to himself, he _ will not _ die in the arena. dying would bring his family and friends into more grief than he’s ever experienced, he won’t hurt them like that.

so, as he stood on the stage shaking like a leaf, he leaned into the stupid escort’s microphone and bit into it with as much venom as he could: “it’s actually schlatt, but thanks for trying.”

* * *

during his final moments in his home, his family and friends visited him. the heartbreaking sobs and messages that they knew were their final words with him tore the brunette into pieces. in that moment, he made another promise to himself; he would not cry, to show his family that he would be okay and to quell their tears. 

slowly but surely, they all had to leave; however, ty stuck around for just a few minutes more. holding out his hand, he opened his palm to reveal a small golden pin with a small “s” in the middle- the knick-knack from this morning. Oh how he wished he could go back to then, when he wasn't in this situation. 

“i better get this back, man,” he said, laughing sadly. 

and schlatt _knew_ he would.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry that this wasn’t too good, i’m not exactly a decent writer lmao. i kinda also have an idea of some pre-game interviews and the training beforehand, but i don’t want to make any promises. however, i am planning to make some fanart for this au cause i really really enjoy it and i’m a lot better at art i swear. this was my first time posting something on ao3 so let’s just hope nothing goes wrong.


End file.
